Natalie Merchant
Natalie Merchant
Natalie Merchant
Natalie Merchant
Natalie Merchant
Natalie Merchant
Natalie Merchant
Natalie Merchant
Natalie Merchant
Natalie Merchant
Natalie Merchant
Natalie Merchant
Natalie Merchant
“Carnival” is the lead single by singer-songwriter Natalie Merchant off her 1995 album Tigerlily.
Lyrically, the protagonist compares the many colorful sights and sounds of day-to-day life in New York City to a carnival. Merchant was inspired to write the song after visiting the city for the first...
[Verse 1]
Well I've walked these streets
A virtual stage
It seemed to me
Makeup on their faces
Actors took their places next to me
[Pre-Chorus 1]
Well I've walked these streets
In a carnival
Of sights to see
All the cheap thrill-seekers
The vendors and the dealers
They crowded around me
[Chorus]
Have I been blind?
Have I been lost?
Inside myself and my own mind?
Hypnotized, mesmerized
By what my eyes have seen
[Verse 2]
Well I've walked these streets
In a spectacle of wealth and poverty
In the diamond market
The scarlet welcome carpet
That they just rolled out for me
[Pre-Chorus 2]
And I've walked these streets
In the madhouse asylum
They can be
Where a wild-eyed misfit prophet
On a traffic island stopped
And he raved of saving me
[Chorus]
Have I been blind?
Have I been lost?
Inside myself and my own mind?
Hypnotized, mesmerized
By what my eyes have seen
Have I been wrong?
Have I been wise?
To shut my eyes and play along?
Hypnotized, paralyzed
By what my eyes have found
[Bridge]
By what my eyes have seen
What they have seen
[Guitar Solo]
[Chorus]
Have I been blind? (blind)
Have I been lost? (lost)
Have I been wrong? (Have I been wrong?)
Have I been wise? (Have I been wise?)
Have I been strong?
Have I been hypnotized, mesmerized
By what my eyes have found?
(By what my eyes have found?)
In that great street carnival
(Whoa, in that carnival)
Have I been blind? (blind)
Have I been lost? (lost)
(Have I been)
Have I been wrong? (Have I been wrong?)
Have I been wise? (Have I been wise?)
Have I been strong?
Have I been hypnotized, mesmerized
By what my eyes have found?
(By what my eyes have found?)
In that great street carnival
In that carnival
Carnival was written by Natalie Merchant.
Carnival was produced by Natalie Merchant.